Carry On Touring: Open letter calling on Government to fix the post-Brexit barriers for UK creatives
“How can the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport promote confidence within production managers and hire companies to use UK passport holding freelancers and creatives for their European events, given the extra risks, red tape and cost that it involves in obtaining the correct authorisation?” asks Carry on Touring’s Tim Brennan.
Failure to include an EU-wide cultural work permit and visa free travel for touring professionals and artists will have a catastrophic impact on all touring art forms including fashion, theatre, dance, visual arts and music.
The Carry On Touring campaign, backed by Fashion Roundtable, is fighting to secure an exemption or provision for those ‘on tour’ who, now we have left the EU, will be required to obtain work permits in each European country they visit. The requirement to secure multiple permits and visas, places an additional cost and unnecessary burden on a sector which is keen to get back on tour. It will have a detrimental impact on the UK public and performers alike and the UK economy.
Over 1,600 creatives have signed an open letter calling on new Secretary of State for DCMS, Nadine Dorries MP, to help get the creative industries ‘back on tour’, and campaigners say this should be her ‘first order of business’
The letter calls on the Government to fix the post-Brexit barriers preventing UK creatives being able to tour in Europe – including additional costs and red tape. Signatories working across the creative industries, from music, fashion, theatre and performing arts. They include campaigners, professional bodies, business leaders, trade unions, musicians, freelancers, technicians and more.
Response From Tamara Cincik - CEO Fashion Roundtable
“Fashion Roundtable have repeatedly asked to be on the DCMS working group and while we do advise the BFC on policy, we feel it would help the department to understand the needs of the sector, as they have said the EU cannot find a definition of a fashion creative, which given our experience we would be able to advise them on. A £35bn sector needs more than one representative in such an important group, given the impacts Brexit is having on our fashion creative talents, whose primary destinations are France, Spain, Germany and Italy.”
Philippa Childs, Head of Bectu, said:
“The reality of the Brexit deal is a catastrophic impact on thousands of touring professionals including Bectu members working in tech, crew and touring theatre. This incredibly disingenuous announcement from DCMS has only served to make a bad situation worse. It has caused chaos, confusion and a brought a real sense that DCMS are more interested in managing media
headlines than dealing with the issues. This is serious for Bectu members and Government need to get serious.”
There has since been a response from Julia Lopez MP Minister of State for Media, Data & Digital Infrastructure dated the 2nd November 2021 is available to read below: